Berri’s Mexican juice still under pressure

31 July 2013

Editorial

Berri Truly, an orange juice imported from Mexico under the Berri brand has come under further pressure from independent senator Nick Xenophon, and state member for Chaffey, Tim Whetstone, after they called for removal of the product from supermarket shelves.

The juice is currently being sold in supermarkets for around $1, however Whetstone has called upon parent company Lion to remove the product from supermarket shelves immediately, The Advertiser reports.

The product, Berri Truly Juice came under fire for allegedly misleading customers regarding the country of origin. Senator Xenophon said the juice featured a ‘product of Mexico’ claim on the back of the label in small print while the Berri logo proudly claimed “since 1943.”

Lion announced that the company decided to delete the product as it was not meeting set performance benchmarks.

Whetstone says that local fruit growers are suffering at the expense of imported products.

“Riverland growers are receiving less than two cents per kilogram for juicing fruit and it is simply not good enough that an imported juice brand is taking up shelf space that could otherwise be for SA made brands,” he said.

“Our orange growers are ripping up orchards because they cannot find markets for their produce but we are seeing a label branded synonymously with SA and the Riverland sourcing imported fruit.”